Dispensing valve assembly



United States Patent [72] Inventor Richard T.Cornellus Minneapolis,Minnesota [21] AppLNo. 695,925 [22] Filed Jan.5,l968 [45] Patented Nov.17, I970 [73] Assignee The CorneliusCompany Anoka, Minnesota acorporation of Minnesota [54] DISPENSING VALVE ASSEMBLY 1 Claim, 5Drawing Flgst [52] U.S.C|. 251/209, 25l/292,25l/3l0,25l/3l7 [51] int-Cl.Fl6k5/04 [50] FieldofSear-ch 251/310, 317, 209; l37/625.4l, 625.17

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 218,739 8/1879 Hess 251/3172,723,102 11/1955 Mueller 3,305,211 2/1967 Phillips Primary Examiner-M.Cary Nelson Assistant Examiner-Michael O. Sturm Attorney-Hill, Sherman,Meroni, Gross & Simpson that includes a pair of spaced parallel circularportions and a pair of spaced elongated straight parallel connectingportions joined at their ends to the circular portions integrally, theseal portions respectively extending on opposite sides of the passagewhen the valve assembly is closed.

Patented Nov. 11, 1970 3,540,694

I INVENTOR.

mcw aflfiwg ATTORNEYS DISPENSING VALVE ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field ofthe Invention This invention relates to manuallyoperatable dispensing valves of the rotary plug type, and morespecifically to such a valve assembly having a liquid agitation meansfor foaming carbonated slush-ice beverage and having a high-pressureseal embodied therein.

2. Prior Art Although large capacity dispensing valves are known per se,none has been found to be suitable for being used with a source ofcarbonated slush-ice type of liquid which is under relatively highpressure. In particular, such devices have not been able to bothsatisfactorily control fluid flow and also pass ice crystalagglomerations. Further, seals thereof have been especially susceptibleto failure and to a short life. Moreover, prior devices have not enabledthe operator to withdraw a suitably foamy product.

SUMMARY The valve assembly has a rotary valve core member through whicha flow passage extends, there being a V-notch type of groove in thevalve core member which opens toward an impingement surface in the flowpassage and into the bore in which the valve core member is rotatable. Amolded seal provides long life under pressurized operation and includesspaced parallel circular portions integrally joined together by means ofspaced elongated straight parallel connecting portions, such portionsbeing disposed at opposite sides of the passage when the valve assemblyis closed. A handle provides guidance and locking for the valve coremember, and also indicates the functional position ofsaid Vnotch.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a valveassembly for dispensing pressurized carbonated slush-ice type ofbeverage.

Another object of this invention is to provide a valve assembly whichwill suitably control flow regardless of viscosity or consistencyofslush-ice beverage to be dispensed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a valve assemblywhich during dispensing will agitate a pressurized carbonated beveragepassing therethrough to produce a foamy product.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a valveassembly which can both control dispensing of slush-ice and that isself-cleaning as to any large agglomerations of ice crystals. withoutplugging up.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a valveassembly for handling a pressurized product having a seal assembly whichwill have a long life under adverse operating conditions.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide adispensing valve assembly of a sanitary type of construction that can bemanually disassembled for cleaning without use of, any tool.

LII

Many other advantages, features and additional objects of I the presentinvention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon makingreference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheet ofdrawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating theprinciples of the present invention is shown by way ofillustrativeexample.

ON THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a top view ofa dispensing valve assemblyprovided in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-Il of FIG. 1 withmounting means added;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of a valve core member and seal shown inFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the valve core member shown in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line V-V of FIG. 4.

As shown on the drawings:

The principles of this invention are particularly useful when embodiedin a valve assembly such as illustrated in the drawings, generallyindicated by the numeral 10. The valve assembly 10 includes a bodymember II. a valve core member 12. a seal I3, and a manually detachablehandle [4.

The body member II has an inlet end constructed to be secured to a wall15 ofa chamber having a compartment 6, for instance one having apressurized supply of carbonated slushtype of beverage therein, thechamber 6 having a beverage inlet 7 of restricted size. The body member11 has a shank 16 with a threaded outer end 17 carrying a nut 18 whichcoacts with a shoulder 19 to clamp the valve body member II to the wallI5. A static seal 20 is carried in a peripheral groove. and a key 2| isreceived in a corresponding keyway in the wall I5 to preclude rotationof the valve body. The valve body member ll has a cylindrical bore 22extending therethrough from the upper to the lower sides.

The valve core member 12 is cylindrical and is rotatable within andguided by the bore 22, and is also axially slidable therein. Upwardaxial movement is limited by a shoulder 23 which is carried on aprojecting portion of the valve core member 12, the shoulder 23 engagingthe lower side of the body member 11 at the bore 22. The upper end ofthe valve core member 12 also projects from the bore 22, and it is intothis upper end that the handle 14 is secured so that the handle isengageable with the upper side of the body member II to prevent axialwithdrawal of the valve core member 12. However. when it isdesired toclean the valve assembly I0, the handle 14 is unscrewed manually, thuspermitting the valve core member 12 to be pressed out of the bore 22manually.

The members ll, 12 have a flow passage extending therethrough. the bodymember 11 having a flow passage portion 24 and the valve core member [2having a flow passage portion 25. The flow passage portion 24 is thusthe inlet and is in the body member II while the flow passage portion 25is an outlet that is in the valve core member I2. The flow passage 24,25, when open, presents a flow path which is of substantial size andcapacity, much less than that of the compartment 6 and much more thanthat of the restricted beverage inlet 7, and which in this embodiment isdevoid of discontinuities so that ice agglomerations of product can beconducted smoothly. This type of construction also enables a foamybeverage to be discharged smoothly therefrom. as explained below. Withthe handle 14 disposed as shown in FIG. I. the flow passage 24, 25 is inits most open position which is fully open as shown in FIG. 2. With thehandle 14 rotated to the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 1, theflow passage 24, 25 is fully closed.

To effect proper sealing of the bore 22 and to effect full closing ofthe passage 24. 25, the seal 13 is disposed at the bore 22 and lies ingrooves provided in the valve core member 12. As best seen in FIG. 3,the seal 13 includes a pair of spaced parallel circular portions 26, 27of substantially equal size, and as shown in FIG. 2, the circularportions 26, 27 lie at opposite sides of the flow passage 24, 25. Theseal 13 further includes a pair of spaced elongated straight parallelconnecting portions 28, 29. each of which is integrally joined to thecircular portions 26. 27 at opposite ends thereof. When the valve coremember 12 is in the fully open position as shown in FIG. 2, thenthatside of the valve core member 12 and seal 13 which is shown in FIG.4 is directed toward the flow passage portion 24. When the valve coremember 12 is in the fully closed position, then that part of the valvecore member 12 and the seal 13 which is shown in FIG. 3 is directedtoward the flow passage portion 24. With the valve assembly fullyclosed, the inlet pressure is thus applied to the central part of thesquarelike configuration shown in FIG. 3, and such force urges theconnecting portions 28 and 29 apart. and corresponding portions of thecircular portions 26. 27 also apart. Atmospheric pressure is at alltimes present at the upper side of the circular portion 26 and at thelower side of the circular portion 27 by entry from the upper and lowerends ofthe bore 22. When the valve core member 12 is fully closed,atmospheric pressure enters the outlet end of the passage portion andreaches the circular opening shown in FIG. 4 at the bore 22 and theinner side of the remainder of the circular portions 26, 27 is likewisealso exposed to atmospheric pressure. Thus the four legs of thesquarelike portion ofthe seal 13 shown in FIG. 3 are urged apart and areeach placed in tension. However,as the seal 13 is a molded unitaryelement, and as it is installed in its as-molded configuration, theinternal stresses are those that are produced only by pressure, withoutany deformation due to the mode of installation.

When the valve core member 12 is rotated toward the open position, theconnecting portion 29 first moves over the aperture in the body member Hwhich is the end of the flow passage portion 24 at the bore 22. Productthus begins to rush out past such seal portion 29, but its opposite endsare firmly held by the circular portions 26, 27 so that no damageresults thereto, even with repeated long use.

To regulate the angular extent of movement of the valve core member l2,the upper end of the body member II has a pair of stops 30, 31 betweenwhich the shank olthe handle [4 projects for respectively defining theclosed and the open positions ofthe valve core member [2.

One of the most important features of this invention isthat the valvecore member 12 has means that define a groove 32, the groove being inthe form of a V-notch with its widest part, as best seen in FIG. 4,opening into the flow passage 25 and also opening into the bore 22. Whenthe valve core member 12 is moved from its fully closed position, afterthe connecting portion 29 has exposed liquid under pressure, suchliquid, at the moment of the beginning of opening, finds that itseasiest exit path is to enter the groove 32. As the passage upstream ofthe groove or notch 32 is larger, the groove 32 provides a restrictionof variable size. The groove 32 is so directed that it causespressurized carbonated product flowing therethrough to impinge with highvelocity against a surface or wall portion 34 of the passage 25, therebyproducing an extreme agitation of the carbonated product. The wallportion 34 is at the side of the passage 25 which is opposite to thegroove. 32. Such agitation causes the carbon dioxide gas to break out,thereby converting the product into a foamy product which flows smoothlythrough the passage 25 at a satisfactory reduced velocity. During normaldispensing only the groove 32, and not the passage portion 25, isaligned with the passage portion 24. This condition normally produces apressure drop across the groove 32. As the product includes icecrystals, which can agglomcrate, there is a likelihood that the groove32 may become blocked with such ice. If and when this happens, thehandle 14 is turned further to align the large passage portion 25briefly directly with the passage portion 24, and on doing so, anytrapped ice is readily flushed out of the valve assembly l0, Preferablywhen the handle [4 is in a position midway between the stops 30, 3|,only the groove 32 is aligned with the passage portion 24.

As shown in FIGv 2, the valve core 'member 12 is molded ltl) and to savematerial, a cavity is provided which is closed by a cover 33 whichserves three purposes. The cover 33 renders the resulting constructionto be sanitary, it provides a means for carrying product identification,and it improves the appearance of the device aesthetically.

During the dispensing, after any broken-out CO gas in the compartment 6has reached a pressure equal to the inlet pressure at the beverage inlet7, and with the core member 12 in a suitably open position, because ofthe relative sizes of the flow areas, the rate of product flow iscontrolled by flow restriction of the inlet.7, whereby flow through thevalve 10 is effected hydrostatically.

With this dispensing valve, a carbonated beverage can be dispensed witha variable degree of agitation. thus also enabling the operator toregulate to some extent the degree of l'oaminess for liquids orbeverages which may have a wide variance in carbonation stability.Moreover. as explained, where the beverage includes shush-ice, any icethat is trapped in the notch or groove 32 is readily flushed out so thatthe valve is self-cleaning in response to being 0 ened further. Further,the seal 13 provides a reliable durab e low-friction seal even where theproduct is handled at high inlet pressures. Moreover, the foregoing hasbeen provided with simple eon struction ofa sanitary nature that can bereadily manuallydisassembled or reassembled without tools for inspectionand cleaning.

lclaim:

1. Means for dispensing a pressurized gas-charged semifrozen confection,comprising:

a. a body member having a vertical bore;

b. a valve core member disposed in said bore and manually movable abouta vertical axis;

0. means defining a flow passage through said members, said passagehaving a horizontal inlet end in said body member and a verticaldischarge end in said valve core member communicating with theatmosphere, said passage being closable and openable in response to asubstantial angular movement of said valve core member, and having asize capable of passing ice crystal agglomerations therethrough;

d. means in said valve core member defining a single restricted grooveopening into said bore and into said passage, and at all timescommunicating with said discharge end of said passage and theatmosphere, for agitating the confection flowing therethrough when saidrestricted groove is aligned with said horizontal inlet end ofsaid flowpassage in said body member; and

e. a semi-frozen confection compartment upstream of said passage and aconfection inlet to said compartment, said passage when only saidrestricted groove is most open having a flow area the size of which isintermediate the flow areas ofsaid compartment and said confectioninlet.

